


when i realized

by americangentleman



Category: high school musical the musical, high school musical the musical the series, hsmtmts - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Pining, redky - Freeform, stan redky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americangentleman/pseuds/americangentleman
Summary: "ricky...i genuinely think you're the last person to realize," he laughed and walked off as if the bell ringing was planned. it left an extremely confused ricky standing in the crowded hallways.
Relationships: Big Red & Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Big Red/Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Rini, big red/ricky bowen, redky, ricky bowen/big red
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	when i realized

ricky and nini has been spending all their time together since ricky told her he loved her. and that he always has. that he could never not love her. no matter what.

red wasn't sure what they were though. ricky hasn't talked about it. he just distances himself. he left.

red was supposed to like ashlyn. but he couldn't. no matter what nice things he said. or the flowers he got her for being a wonderful actress. or the...the kiss.

ashlyn and he hasn't really talked about what happened that night. she kissed him. it was weird. 

but he concluded he didn't like kissing girls.

he also concluded that he only wanted to kiss one person.

a boy.

he was happy for ricky. he had been chasing after her for months. since they got back to school. and red has supported him the entire time. ignored how his heart screamed. desperately wishing it was him and not nini. 

the only boy he wanted to kiss had his face shoved in another girls lips.

he ignored it, though. he ignored ricky unless he texted a simple 'hwk help pg 43 q 23'.

but ricky caught him off guard when he slammed his fist against the closed locker next to red's open one.

"dude," ricky leaned against the locked. red gave him a look to signaled him to go on as he shoved his books in his stuffed locker. maybe he decorated too much. "what's up?"

red shrugged, "nothing?" 

ricky rolled his eyes. he had one of those "i know all your secrets" smiles. "no. i mean what's going on with you? you barely respond to my texts and flat out avoid me."

"i'm not avoiding you ricky, i'm letting you groove with your new 'bae'," red simply laughed and shut his locker. ricky scrunched his nose at the remark.

"im serious, red. what's going on? is it me?" no matter how much he wanted to be 'serious', the smartass smile stayed plastered on his stupidly beautiful face. red noticed every detail of his face. the small dimple on the left side of his face when he smiled as bright as the sun. how his laugh was so bubbly it was like you were floating when he bursted into a fit of giggles. his shimmering eyes when they're looking at you, dictated and studying your thoughts as if he was reading your mind. his soft skin and fluffy head of hair. it creates the most wonderful, breathtaking person red had ever seen.

"ricky...i genuinely think you're the last person to realize," he laughed and walked off as if the bell ringing was planned. it left an extremely confused ricky standing in the crowded hallways. 

red had butterflies all over. he felt like he could  
pass out. why the hell would he do that? what a dumbass! would he survive the day? if he didn't see ricky again then he would. he would have to explain himself. and he really didn't want that. he couldn't ruin their friendship.

nini and ricky walked to class together, hand in hand. nini knew ricky was pondering something but didn't ask. they were happy. 

red survives the day but hasn't really payed much attention in his last two periods. he skated home in the cold breeze of an oncoming storm. the clouds were low and dark. tonight it would rain. red liked that. rain calmed his head.

maybe ricky would forget.

red would forget too.

red let elton john play softly as he tossed a ball up and down on his bed, the noises complimented by the pattering of the rain on the roof far above. it was nice. everything was okay.

on the other hand, ricky was a mess. he couldn't put his finger on what red had meant. not even a clue. he couldn't connect dots. it was all blank. 

he had told nini he had some other things to do and they couldn't hang out after school. he left nini just for red. or, well, to figure out what this was all about.

he didn't know what he and nini were. yeah they had a few kisses that night...and every day after...but they never had a title.

ricky loved her. he could tell her that he loved her.

but did he love the way he intended to? 

ricky flopped down onto his bed, running his fingers through his tangled curls. it was pouring outside. rain meant he couldn't just skateboard this one off. and he would be stuck with this thought pecking at him until he put it all together.

was it that he red had a girlfriend now? he had heard something about him and ashlyn once. but he would've told him.

so it wasn't that.

"was he calling me stupid?" he asked out loud to no one. "oblivious...?"

he sat up, squinting his eyes. "oblivious....oblivious to what?" gears spun in his head, his mind running wildly. 

"does red like me?" ricky shook his head, "no, impossible," he whispered, biting down on his lips.

it all came back to him. that one time they were skating in the park and ricky had face planted into the cement. red was there immediately, kissing his bleeding cheek. his torn up hands. his gashing knee. the knot on his head. light kisses everywhere. ricky remember that through his pain he wanted to pretend he hurt his lips. he wanted their lips to connect and he wanted to fill the thrill of his best friend kissed him and kissed him. so what if they were in fifth grade? just a silly thought. it was nothing.

when red would join ricky and his parents for dinner every birthday. they sat as close as possible. red asked if he wanted anything special for his birthday. he wanted to tell red that he wanted a kiss. a special one. one that would be theirs and no one else's because who mattered when they were together? 

that time ricky really wanted a specific build-a-bear in 7th grade but didn't have enough money for it. it tore him apart. it was the cutest bear he had ever seen. it could have been his second best friend! but he had about ten dollars for a snack for the day and that was it. red took note of this. he returned not too long later with his parents and begged them to get him the bear. they caved eventually and got the bear. when ricky visited the next day he noticed the bear. 'oh, cool! you got that bear i wanted!' he giggled. red smiled, his rosy cheeks waiting to say a million words. red picked up the bear and held it out to him. 'it's yours! i got it for you!' ricky just about broke down into tears, engulfing his friend in the tightest hug that knocked them to the ground. 

ricky still had the bear and slept with it every night.

in 9th grade when ricky was going through his first breakup. red was there. he didn't say much but he was there. red being there made him realize he never liked the girl that much anyway. red held him tightly until his tears dried. and they stared at each other, talking without words. ricky just....he wanted to feel reds lips. but he controlled himself. red was smiling down at him. it wasn't a happy smile. he looked hurt. but he never said that. he cheered ricky up. he put ricky first. 

red never told ricky much. but red was there when ricky talked. he let ricky be him. he let ricky cry. he let ricky talk about girls and how pretty they were. but he never wanted to kiss a girl unless it was nini. he met nini around the same time he met red. he fell in love with nini. but he knew that wasn't all. but he ignored it. suppressed it deep inside of him. and it hadn't appeared until today. when red said that he was the last person to guess. did nini know?

red and nini would always run off without him at recess in elementary. ricky would occasionally cry when they did that. he felt like they didn't want him around when the did that. but they would return with a mud cake they made with their love. they would perform some cheesy dance or monologue they made up in a moment. it was the cutest thing and it brightened his day.

every time one of them got an injury from  
skating they would always tend to each other. clean up the cuts in reds bathroom (because his house was closer to the skatepark). they always found each other staring at the other for a little too long. their flushed faces ever so close. but no one said anything.

red did so much for him. ricky never did enough. he wasn't there for red like he wanted to be. he was too caught up in chasing after what he couldn't have for so long. and once he got it he didn't understand it anymore. it wasn't the same. it was different and felt new again. in the moment in the dressing room ricky was head over heels. what he had was nini was there and it was real. but it lasted for a moment. nothing more. it wasn't like it was months ago. he always knew he loved nini. but how did he love nini?

"does red like me...?" he repeated. it felt...weird to say. but it felt good. it felt new. it made him feel warm. ricky sprung up off his bed and grabbed his board. he ran downstairs, not even waiting to listen to what his dad had to say about skating in the rain. he already had that lecture.

he raced down the soaked concrete as fast as he could, avoiding all cracks and crooks that he had memorized the position of. he was freezing in the harsh rain that soaked through his clothes. but it didn't matter. he had to get to red.

what would he say? what would he say about nini...? what would he say to nini about red? about what he might do? all of these thoughts wandered in his mind. he just decided to wing it. he'd been pretty confident that week, so he just decided to see where that would take him.

he arrived at reds, out of breath and tripping over his numb toes. what time was it anyway? it could've been one in the morning but it didn't matter. he burst through the front door—thankfully no one was in the living room—and ran down the stairs. he didn't try to hide his presence. it was impossible away with his dripping clothes and squeaky vans. 

red was sitting up cautiously, alarmed due to the intruder and how fast they were going through his house. he almost fell off of his bed when the intruder was no one other than his best friend, standing at the bottom of his steps breathing heavily with a stupid smile plastered over his wet face. he was getting the floor soaked but red ignored that fact.

red frantically got up and began walking toward him, "ricky? what the hell are you doi—" he stopped in his tracks as he was cut off.

"i get it now," he breathed. red was absolutely bewildered. "i get it now and, and i know." he was shivering now both from how freezing he was and nerves. "and i like you too." 

red felt hazy. what was going on? was this real? it had to be a dream. he was in love with nini. not red. red didn't say anything, all he did was stare. ricky stares back at him. his mouth was moving but no words came out. was it awkward? or was it supposed to be like that?

"can i kiss you?" ricky blurted put into the silence. 

red felt himself smiling, his cheeks extremely warm and most likely pink. he chuckled, nodding his head, "yeah."

ricky ran over to red and held him close, connecting their lips. it's what they wanted for years. unspoken words came to life. the kiss lasted a million years and all time stopped. it was just them. their lips connected like they were supposed to be. it didn't matter how long the kiss actually was. they couldn't even guess, but to them it lasted forever. and it was good that way. 

"you're soaked and it's all over me and my floor," red said breathlessly after pulling away. his fingers were tangled in ricky's drenched curls. they both laughed, connecting their lips again.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by @/softlygini on twitter!


End file.
